Episode 1 extra footage.

[dvdman]

Yes The Phantom Menace does have several extra minutes of footage back in the movie.
Nice one George.

[Ben Martin]

assuming this thread is aiming to be a discussion about the deleted scenes (which i suppose merits its own thread) ....

i thought the deleted scenes were 'interesting' to watch but in all but one (and a half) cases i didn't think that they merited re-inclusion in the movie. so i have to say i am a bit disappointed that george has once again seen fit to tamper with one of his movies to its (further) detriment.

i thought the 'air taxi' sequence was a good inclusion. previously you had an abrupt cut after qui-gon's dialogue and it also showed anakin hadn't just wandered off. improved the continuity and flow slightly, imho.

the second half of the 'farewell to jira' sequence (first half dire, neither of them seemed particularly happy that he'd just been freed!) would fit nicely as it shows them encountering the probe droid and they start running - better continuity.

for me the rest didn't merit re-inclusion, and i think the pod race now suffers from the 'new' material. some of the stuff showing anakin overtaking other pods i thought worked well, but the dislodged cable was a 'calamity' too far and the extra pod racer introductions and pointless engine shots destroy the pace completely before the race.

[avid fan]

I remember reading that the first fight scene between Darth Maul and QuiGonn (in the desert) was severely cut down in the film, and originally Maul jumped onto the ship as it took off - continued the fight, before getting knocked off the ship in mid-air.

He falls a long distance to the ground, and then lands (very cool) on his feet.

Is this in the deleted scenes??? - from what I heard it sounded like it should have stayed in the film.

[soberion]

This scene is mentioned (I think it's in the film commentary) but it isn't a deleted scene.

[Ben Martin]

as soberion says it isn't in the deleted scenes. there is a still photo of the scene being shot against bluescreen though that is in one of the galleries. i too would have liked to have seen this sequence completed and included - more lightsaber duelling (always a good thing) and better continuity again. there must be a technical reason for not including this as otherwise it seemed a sure-fire inclusion.

i also thought some of the best deleted scenes on the disc were the ones not presented as separate deleted scenes, but those glimpsed in the last chapter of the commentary. i'm specifically thinking about the extra sequences from the 'great duel' (as john williams' pre-hacked-up-by-lucas score was entitled) that we briefly see. in particular, darth maul's back flip up onto a higher gantry.
why on earth weren't these included? we get all those extra goons before the podrace slowing everything down and then they continue to leave out scenes that even the 'TPM-haters' would like to see!

[Creamstick]

I am sooo glad that someone saw sense and used the Jedi mind trick on Lucas to make him not put that waterfall scene back in.

Is it just me, or did the ILM guy deliberately do a half-arsed job on the FX?

[Ben Martin]

Originally posted by Creamstick
Is it just me, or did the ILM guy deliberately do a half-arsed job on the FX?

i don't know, i thought the only bits that looked bad were the jedi actually moving through the water and the bit when jar jar fell in. that guy didn't animate jar jar although i suppose he could have sorted out the other shot. that said, he faced problems from the start because the water that was in the tank on the studio wasn't fierce enough. it simply didn't look like they were on the edge of the biggest waterfall ever. thought the rest 'looked' good.

but i agree on the other point, thank goodness it wasn't re-inserted in the movie! though still not as bad as the first half of the 'farewell to jira' scene: when anakin runs up to her and says "I've been freed!" and doesn't exactly sound thrilled. then she half smiles and says something like "oh ..." and immediately forgets all about it! useless! :D